


crumble

by gearyoak



Series: bluepulse week 2017 [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Minor Injuries, other characters are mentioned but they don't make an appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 02:36:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12267162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gearyoak/pseuds/gearyoak
Summary: The building had started collapsing as soon as the team had been deployed. It was a ploy, a trick to kill as many of the kids as they could, one that they knew wouldn’t work. Even Ivo expected they would all escape before anyone got crushed, but he had known that, too. It was either leave with their lives or destroy the network managing the MONQI units he had planned to release across the city.-Written for Bluepulse Week 2017. Day Four: Loss





	crumble

**Author's Note:**

> wrow

He knew he could make it out alive, was the thing.

The building had started collapsing as soon as the team had been deployed. It was a ploy, a trick to kill as many of the kids as they could, one that they knew wouldn’t work. Even Ivo expected they would all escape before anyone got crushed, but he had known that, too. It was either leave with their lives or destroy the network managing the MONQI units he had planned to release across the city.

Robin might have been able to diffuse the whole situation if he had gotten there in time. Unfortunately the system was ten levels below ground and guarded by an army worth of the monkey bots. Once the first explosion went off, their primary objective was evacuating the employees, anyway. No time.

None of them knew if the tech support company worked _with_ Ivo or _for_ Ivo. Perhaps they had been unaware of the tenth basement level that held countless robots and a computer system controlling them. That was another investigation. No time to figure that out now, either.

_We’ve got monkeys pouring out onto the streets,_ Miss Martian announced, sounding strained even over the psychic link. _We’re having trouble holding them all off._

Bart raced passed a window, high enough that you could hardly tell the floors beneath were falling apart, and caught a glimpse of her from outside. She had about four extra arms, each with a laughing bot clutched by the neck, and another group of monkeys suspended in front of her in pieces. Maybe Superboy was right. Monkeys do kinda suck.

He struck a bot with his fist, and with how fast he was going, the force was enough to make it nearly burst. That one fell, but four more took its place and lunged for the shattered windows.

_We’re doing what we can on this side,_ Beast Boy put in. _But, I gotta say, I’m good, but I’m not_ that _good. We might be a little shorthanded._

From what Bart remembered from the hurried orders given out ten minutes earlier, Beast Boy was covering as much of the streets as he could with Lagoon Boy while Blue and Miss M took care of the skies. They provided the cover he, Wonder Girl, Robin, and Guardian needed while they searched the building for stragglers. Seeing as the monkeys didn’t need a set exit and burst from whatever window or door they could, he guessed things could probably have been going better.

Bart was at the stairwell heading down when Nightwing responded. _Heard. Calling in all the available reinforcements. Having these things loose on the streets is worse case scenario._

Even though he knew no one could see it, Bart grimaced. _All available reinforcements? That’s convenient for them. Anyone else think this might be a distraction?_

Nightwing sighed, frustrated. Bart didn’t even know you could _do_ that over a psychic link. _It’s definitely a distraction, but we’ve got our hands tied. Whatever Ivo has planned for the bigger picture, we’ll manage._

Bart wanted to argue, but Nightwing’s tone made him hesitate. This was _Ivo_ , they were dealing with. The same crazy robotics genius who was known to work alongside the Light. Maybe they forgot that they were responsible for nearly ending the Earth via Reach Invasion. If downtown New York being overrun by MONQI units was a _distraction_ , then what kind of “bigger picture” were they being distracted from?

_Guardian and I are clear of the building, covering the East side until those reinforcements show,_ Robin relayed to the rest of the team.

_Scans show that no civilians are left inside,_ Blue Beetle added.

_Which leaves the question of_ , Wonder Girl paused, presumably to crash through a window if the explosion of glass Bart heard above him was anything to go by. _Why are you still inside, KF?_

Despite the feeling of unease and worry gnawing at his ribs, Bart grinned. This had to end here, as soon as possible. He worked too damn hard to save the future, he wasn’t about to let the Light get a one up on them over some stupid monkeys.

So, he grinned, and kept running.

_I’m going down to check out the basement,_ he told them easily, casually.

_Negative, KF,_ Nightwing said sternly. _The building’s structural integrity is failing too quickly. You’ll get down there, but you’ll be trapped by 20 stories worth of rubble._

Bart laughed, an unhelpful reaction he had when faced with nervousness or stress. _C’mon, have a little faith._

_Kid Flash, get **out**_ _of there! That’s an order!_

_I will, I will! As soon as these monkeys are dealt with, I’ll be right out!_

Distress seemed to course through the mental link in waves, but Bart didn’t stumble or slow down, not even when the levels stopped having windows and the ceilings started shaking instead of the floors.

_Bart!_

_Hold position,_ Miss Martian hissed at someone.

_Blue, on your left!_

After two years of working with them, Bart had gotten relatively good at tuning them out, whether it be a mental link or over comms. Their protests were just muted voices by the time he crashed through the double doors waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

Dust fell in slow motion as he assessed the wide expanse of the bottom floor. A variety of machines and monitors were filed into rows, numbers and codes scrolling down screens of black. Screeching laughter reached him about 0.377 seconds after, more MONQIs noticing his presence. Fighting them off and finding the source of power would take too much time. Rigging one of the computers to spark and explode wouldn’t take as long, but still not enough time.

Notimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotimenotime

A monkey bot jumped 1.0056 seconds after his arrival, and Bart watched the jet pack on its spine activate and thought _, perfect_.

He ran forward and snatched it by its tail before it saw him move. In twelve seconds, maybe a little more, this building would turn into a pile of rocks on top of his head. Twelve seconds.

_Seems doable,_ he thought to himself, hurling his caught MONQI at a concrete support pillar. The pillar cracked when the bot fizzed and popped in a tiny explosion.

The other monkeys were on him, then, but he was faster and a little more determined than before. Bart kept enough distance between him and them so they were forced to leap at him with the help of their jet packs. That’s when he acted, using the tails as a way to redirect their path and send them hurtling. Sixteen MONQIs, three pillars, six seconds later. One of the supports finally crumbled and Bart watched in slow motion as the others began to fail.

Good enough. No more time.

7.9834 seconds after he arrived was when the ceiling collapsed on the far side of the basement, the side that Bart had already cleared. He didn’t let himself relax, even though his idea had worked _perfectly_. No time to gloat. He still had to make it out. No time.

The stairwell was pitch black; power must have gone out when the basement’s systems went offline. Generator must have been in the back of the room. Maybe he could build another time machine, go back in time to take out the generator instead of taking too much of a risk with the beams. Would take less time now that he knew where it was. No. He’d still have to make it out to do it, anyway. Would be tedious. Not enough time to think about it.

His goggles buzzed a small amount when he turned on their night vision, and his heart felt like it froze larger than normal in his chest. Doctor Ivo looked just as shocked to see him, and a little more than mortified.

Bart hissed, swore, wanted to scream. He would have made it _out_ of there. He could have done it by himself, made the ten level run with about a fifth of a  second to spare, but carrying another person? That was less of a definitive success. He thought, _extremely briefly_ , of running right passed the man. No one would miss him under here. He was the maniac who tried to overrun the city anyway. But Flash wouldn’t leave anyone behind. _Kid Flash_ wouldn’t leave anybody behind. He was Kid Flash now, not Impulse, not the kid from the future bent on his own survival.

_Shit_.

8.4123 seconds. Bart slung the man over his shoulder and ran. Ivo was about as heavy as he expected, but the time it took him to clear a flight of stairs was shorter. He could do this. They reached the ground floor with a little over two seconds until Bart’s estimated time for imminent failure. He saw a light filtering through the mess of fire and rock, pushed through the smoke and dust for it. He could do this.

A deafening crack shook the building, the world, and Bart watched - in agonizingly _slow motion_ \- as the wall in front of him, the only thing between them and safety, fell.

_**Shit.** _

He shifted his hold on Ivo, wanting to do nothing more than toss him and keep going, and dropped, the momentum carrying their bodies in a slide toward the shrinking exit. His lungs burned, and he was _actually_ tired, but he didn’t know if they made it or not, it was too dark to tell. Too dark.

*~

When he woke up, it was in a jolt. He sat up only to fall back immediately with a pained groan, gripping his left elbow. That wasn’t good.

Bart, carefully and more slowly this time, pulled himself into a sitting position. NV on his goggles was still on, and it took a second of blinking to get used to the odd colors again. It was still dark, which was on account of being surrounded by piles of concrete and dry wall, and, yeah, _really_ not good.

He moved to stand, only making it to a kneeling position before a crunching noise made him freeze. It became clear after a moment that the sound was rocks smashing against each other and it seemed right. As far as his luck went, it seemed likely Bart would wake up in time to be crushed to death.

The noises stopped, then started again a little ways away from where they started. Too precise, Bart realized, for a cave in. He had no concept of how long he had been down there. It could be the team. It could also very well be someone from the Light coming to extract their fallen member.

Speaking of which - 

He was nearly blinded by the sudden light that cascaded over him and he swiftly turned off his NV, squinting up at the sky and - 

“Blue!”

Blue Beetle made sure the debris he moved away wouldn’t cause any more damage before he dropped down to Bart. The armor from his neck up retracted back into the scarab along with the wings, so Bart could see just _how_ upset Jaime was with him. He didn’t parse what the expression meant right away, though. Was just so happy, so glad, to see the face wearing it.

The other boy fell to his knees in front of him so Bart didn’t have to look up anymore, seemingly scolding him in what the speedster guessed was a mix of Spanish and English all the while. He was only able to manage a cut off, “uh,” in response before Jaime rushed forward to pull him in a tight hug. His accelerated healing kicked in some time ago, so Bart only slightly grimaced when pressure was applied to his wounded elbow, but otherwise he returned the embrace wholeheartedly.

“What were you _thinking_?” Jaime asked when he let him go, voice just a tiny bit shrill. It reminded Bart of Mrs. Reyes, but he didn’t say that. Jaime didn’t seem to be in the mood.

“What happened with the MONQIs?”

“They all went offline - _Bart_. What you did was so _beyond_ stupid. Nightwing is gonna _kill_ you. I’m gonna kill you!”

That prompted a grin from the younger boy. “I don’t get why you guys are so moded. I saved the day!”

“We thought you died!” Then, quieter, “I thought I lost you.”

“Aw, c’mon, babe. A forty year difference didn’t stop me from getting to you, a couple tons of concrete won’t either.”

Jaime looked absolutely _infuriated_ at his remark, which was why Bart was a little shocked when he rushed forward to kiss him, hard. He recovered quick, releasing his aching elbow to press his fingertips into the skin at the back of Jaime’s neck, tilting his head and sighing into it. They pulled away in the next moment, but only so Jaime could hug him again.

“You’re the worst,” he muttered. His words were muffled in Bart’s shoulder, but he could still hear the defeated tone.

“Well, I think you’re pretty crash. Opposites attract, and all that.” He laughed at the aggravated sigh the other let out.

Bart could have honestly fallen asleep there despite how stupid it was, napping amidst the ruins of a collapsed building. The relief of a day won left him feeling more exhausted rather than invigorated, though. Resisting the need to close his eyes and sleep against the other was proving to be a little difficult. Jaime sat up suddenly before the speedster could decided if the pros were worth the cons, his fingers moving toward his temple.

“Uh, yeah - Affirmative. I found him, he’s fine.” Bart tilted his head at the use of a comm link but remained silent. “Reporting back to the Bioship.”

“What happened to the mind link?” He asked when Jaime seemed to be finished. “Miss M okay?”

“She’s at Belle Reve.” Jaime stood, taking Bart with him. “Prison breakout or something.”

‘Or something’ was probably more likely, but Bart didn’t waste their time by telling him ‘I told you so’. He really could go for that nap; whatever the Light had planned for that prison could wait for an hour or two. Or three. Four.

Right, _wait_ , the Light.

He stopped in his tracks, causing Jaime to turn around, eyebrow raised in question.

“I thought you said the building was clear of civilians.” Bart spun around, returning to the rubble he had been found in.

Jaime’s brow furrowed. “It was. Everyone was out except for you.”

“Then how do you explain - oh.” He kicked away a slate of dry wall to reveal a very broken, very _fake_ Doctor Ivo. The android’s jaw was unhinged, exposing torn wires within its skull. It’s limbs were bent in odd angles, synthetic skin torn and showing off the mechanics underneath.

_Oh._

_“ Dios mío,_ that’s frightening,” Jaime said behind him. He must have activated his comm again, because then he addressed their squad leader. “Nightwing, we’ve got an Ivo android down here. It doesn’t - well. It’s probably nonoperational.”

Bart pushed his goggles up enough so he could pinch the bridge of his nose, face pulled in a scowl. “I can _not_ believe I almost died for a stupid robot. I’m never sticking my neck out for a bad guy ever again.”

Jaime, for the first time since they’d been deployed, seemed amused. “I guess I’ll carry it, then.” Before he descended toward the scrap of metal, he pressed another quick kiss on Bart’s cheek. “I’m glad I didn’t lose you.”

“Me too,” he replied, the smile he wore so fond and more genuine than any other. “What would you do without me?”

**Author's Note:**

> the ending is kinda shit bcuz I had planned on writing more but never got around to it :/ but here we are! lmao
> 
> hope you at least enjoyed it, seeing as you got this far! like always, if anything needs to be tagged or there's a grammatical/spelling mistake you can't stand looking, at let me know.


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